Tata Steel 2027: Abdusattorov and Sindarov Lead a Young Field

The organisers have announced the Masters and Challengers fields for Tata Steel Chess 2027, the 89th edition of the Wijk aan Zee tournament, which runs January 15-31, 2027. Defending champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov head the list. Sindarov is described as potentially the new world champion after the 2026 FIDE World Championship.

The Masters field

Three past winners join the pair: Levon Aronian, who has won four times, Jorden van Foreest (2021) and Anish Giri (2023). Vincent Keymer and Alireza Firouzja add two more players rated 2750 or higher.

Two teenagers stand out. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is 15 and already ranked 21st in the world. Andy Woodward, 16, earns his place by winning last year’s Challengers section.

Storylines to watch

Hans Niemann returns after a difficult U.S. Championship. He gets a chance to settle a score with Frederik Svane, who beat him in a memorable game at the recent Chess Olympiad. Nihal Sarin also wants to leave a hard Olympiad behind him.

Amin Tabatabaei has climbed through the ranks this year and now sits 18th in the world. One Masters place is still unnamed, and a strong grandmaster is expected to fill it.

The Challengers

The winner of the Challengers earns a place in next year’s Masters, as Woodward did. The 14 players are Aravindh Chithambaram, Max Warmerdam, Nikolas Theodorou, Casper Schoppen, Zhu Jiner, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Mukhiddin Madaminov, Alua Nurman, Ihor Samunenkov, Alice Lee, Vaclav Finek, Dau Khuong Duy, Christian Gloeckler and Sergey Sklokin-Bagiyan.

Three of them are Olympiad gold medalists: Madaminov, Lee and Samunenkov. Zhu and Assaubayeva played in the Women’s Candidates, and Aravindh is a former 2750-rated player. With so many young talents, the winner is hard to call.

Format

Both sections are 14-player round-robins. The time control is 120 minutes for 40 moves, then 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment only from move 41. Draw offers are not allowed before move 40.

Sindarov’s current standing is covered in our look at his lead over Gukesh on the November FIDE list.